Susie Castillo (born October 27, 1979) is an American actress, TV host, model and beauty pageant titleholder who held the

Miss USA Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020, ...

title and competed in the

Miss Teen USA Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant formerly run, since 1983, by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19. Unlike its sister pageants Miss Universe, which currently broadcasts on Fox and Miss USA, this pageant is webcast on th ...

and

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall St ...

pageants. She pursued a career in the media, making various television appearances and hosting shows such as

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's ''

Total Request Live ''Total Request Live'' (known commonly as ''TRL'') was an American television program broadcast on MTV that premiered on September 14, 1998. TRL featured popular music videos played during its countdown, and was also used as a promotion tool by ...

'' as a VJ.

Early years

Castillo was born in

Methuen, Massachusetts Methuen () is a 23 square mile (60 km2) city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 53,059 at the 2020 census. Methuen lies along the northwestern edge of Essex County, just east of Middlesex County and just south of ...

, to a Dominican father and a Puerto Rican mother who were divorced when she was a child. After her father abandoned the family, her mother moved to

Lawrence, Massachusetts Lawrence is a city located in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, on the Merrimack River. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 89,143. Surrounding communities include Methuen to the north, Andover to the southwest, and Nort ...

, worked several jobs in order to defray living and educational expenses for her family. She was greatly influenced by her Puerto Rican heritage, though she has stated she considers herself both Puerto Rican and Dominican.Castillo, Susie, "My 'Mass.' Mania"
, ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' June 6, 2007. By 1996, at the age of 16, Castillo had already become a professional model appearing in many teen magazines and commercials. Upon graduating from

Methuen High School Methuen High School is a public secondary school located in the city of Methuen, Massachusetts, United States. Methuen High serves grades nine through twelve for about 1,900 students. It is one of five public schools in Methuen and it is the only ...

, she enrolled at Endicott College, and in 2001 earned a bachelor's degree in Interior Architecture and Design. She received the

Capstone Award A capstone course, also known as senior synthesis, capstone unit, capstone module, capstone project, capstone subject, or capstone experience, serves as the culminating and usually integrative experience of an educational program. It may also be r ...

in recognition of her senior

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144 ...

. She is a member of Kappa Delta sorority.

Beauty pageants

Miss Massachusetts Teen USA

Castillo won her first pageant title in November 1997, when she beat over forty other contestants to become Miss Massachusetts Teen USA 1998. Castillo's sister titleholder, Miss Massachusetts USA 1998

Shawnae Jebbia Shawnae Nicole Jebbia (born September 13, 1971) is an American entertainer and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss USA 1998. Jebbia won the Miss Massachusetts USA title in 1997, in her first attempt at a pageant title. She went on to repres ...

went on to win the

title in February the following year. Castillo represented her state in the

pageant held in

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is ...

on August 17, 1998. Although the pageant was usually broadcast live, that year's telecast was delayed due to a speech by then-

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

regarding his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. She also won the Clairol Herbal Essence Award that year. The pageant was won by Vanessa Minnillo of

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

Miss Massachusetts USA and Miss USA

In November 2002, Castillo participated in the Miss Massachusetts USA Pageant held at Bridgewater State College in the town of Bridgewater, and won the title. Castillo was the state's first Latina titleholder. She went on to compete in the

Miss USA 2003 Miss USA 2003 was the 52nd Miss USA pageant, held at the San Antonio Municipal Auditorium in San Antonio, Texas on March 24, 2003. It was the first time it had been held in this state since 1996 when the pageant was held in South Padre Island. It ...

pageant held in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_ ...

on March 24, 2003. Castillo won the Miss USA title in the nationally televised event, becoming Massachusetts' second titleholder, and the fourth former Miss Teen USA state titleholder to win the pageant. She was the third Hispanic to win Miss USA after

Laura Harring Laura Elena, Countess von Bismarck-Schönhausen (née Martínez Herring; March 3, 1964), known professionally as Laura Harring, is a Mexican-American actress. In 1985, Harring became the first Hispanic woman crowned Miss USA. She later began her ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

and Lynnette Cole in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

. In addition she was the first woman with Dominican ancestry to win the title as well as the second woman with Puerto Rican ancestry to win after Lynnette Cole. As Miss USA, Castillo represented the Miss Universe Organization, making appearances for charities throughout the United States. Her "sister" 2003 titleholders were

Amelia Vega Amelia Vega Polanco (born 7 November 1984) is a Dominican model, actress, author, singer and beauty queen. At the age of 18, she won the Miss Universe 2003 pageant, becoming the first ever Miss Universe from the Dominican Republic, as well as ...

(

, of the Dominican Republic) and

Tami Farrell Tami or TAMI may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tami (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with either the given name or nickname * Mark Tami (born 1962), British politician and Member of Parliament * Pierluigi Tami ...

(

, of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

Miss Universe

Castillo traveled to Panama City, Panama, to compete in the Miss Universe 2003 pageant in May. Her national

costume Costume is the distinctive style of dress or cosmetic of an individual or group that reflects class, gender, profession, ethnicity, nationality, activity or epoch. In short costume is a cultural visual of the people. The term also was tradition ...

was "

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byrne, are credited as bein ...

". Castillo placed among the 15 semifinalists. She placed 13th overall, like her placement at Miss Teen USA. The pageant was won by

of the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

. Contrary to popular belief, it was not the first time that two Dominican women or two Puerto Rican women participated in the pageant's history because the contestants that represented Italy ( Denny Mendez) and the Dominican Republic in the 1997 edition were both of Dominican ancestry and the contestants that represented USA ( Lynnette Cole) and Puerto Rico in the 2000 edition were both of Puerto Rican ancestry.

Media career

Castillo has made guest appearances on the following shows: ''On-Air with

Ryan Seacrest Ryan John Seacrest (born December 24, 1974) is an American media personality and producer. He is the co-host of '' Live with Kelly and Ryan'', as well as the host of multiple media shows including ''American Idol'', ''American Top 40'', and ' ...

'' (April 5, 2004), ''My Wife and Kids'' (October 5, 2004), where she was cast as "Sharon", "''Half & Half''" (October 18, 2004) cast as "Shaunie". In August 2005, Castillo co-hosted the Miss Teen USA 2005 pageant alongside ''

Passions ''Passions'' is an American television soap opera that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1999, to September 7, 2007, and on DirecTV's The 101 Network from September 17, 2007, to August 7, 2008. Created by screenwriter James E. Reilly and ...

'' actor Galen Gering. The event was won by Allie LaForce of

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

. Castillo was formerly a regular Music Television (

) VJ and host of TRL, and helped with the launch of Mi TRL on

MTV Tr3s MTV Tres (taken from the Spanish word for the number three ''tres'', stylized as tr3s, with an acute accent over the '3') is an American owned by Paramount Media Networks, a subsidiary of Paramount Global. The channel is targeted toward bilingu ...

in September 2006. She is now pursuing acting full-time. She also played the role of Mercedes Hernandez in the TBS show Tyler Perry's House of Payne in a select number of episodes in season 5. She also signed on as the brand ambassador for

Charlotte Russe (retailer) Charlotte Russe is an American clothing retail chain store that operates in the United States, headquartered in San Francisco, California. Fashions in the stores are targeted at women in their teens and twenties. , Charlotte Russe operates 135 ...

and '' Gossip Girl'' stylist, Eric Daman, who is going to help her design her own line influenced by her Latino heritage. In 2007, Castillo became a spokeswoman for

Neutrogena Neutrogena Corporation, trading as Neutrogena, is an American company that markets skin care, hair care and cosmetics owned by parent company Johnson & Johnson and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.ABC Family The American cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and six different name changes) during its h ...

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1 ...

series, ''America's Prom Queen''. With Michael Flatley, she is the co-host of the NBC dance-competition series ''

Superstars of Dance ''Superstars of Dance'' was an American reality television show, first broadcast on January 4, 2009, on NBC. The show featured dance routines from eight countries from six continents. It was hosted by Michael Flatley, co-creator of ''Riverdance'' ...

'' in 2009. Castillo co-hosted the 2008

Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam singles titles. He started to play tennis at six years old. He was the first black player selected to the Un ...

Kids’ Day on August 23 at the USTA

Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943) is an American former World number 1 ranked female tennis players, world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major titles: 12 in singles, 16 in women's double ...

National Tennis Canter in New York City.

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

's Quddus was Susie's co-host. Castillo was a host of the school renovation reality series ''

School Pride ''School Pride'' was an American reality television series which aired on NBC, from executive producers Cheryl Hines and Denise Cramsey. The 7-episode series, which followed the renovation of a different public school each week, aired from Oct ...

'', which aired on NBC in 2010. She also appeared in the 2011 film ''

A Holiday Engagement ''Holiday Engagement'' (originally titled ''A Thanksgiving Engagement'') is a 2011 film starring Bonnie Somerville, Shelley Long and Jordan Bridges. It premiered on Hallmark Channel on November 28, 2011. Plot Always struggling in life and love, ...

''. In 2013, Castillo began appearing as 'Becky', a hand model, in Palmolive's Soft Touch dish soap commercials.

Personal life

On October 7, 2006, Castillo married Matthew Leslie in a quiet ceremony in

Ipswich, Massachusetts Ipswich is a coastal town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 13,785 at the 2020 census. Home to Willowdale State Forest and Sandy Point State Reservation, Ipswich includes the southern part of Plum Island. A resid ...

. The two met shortly after Castillo won Miss Massachusetts Teen USA, Leslie proposed to Castillo during an appearance on the talk show '' On-Air With Ryan Seacrest'' in April 2004, just prior to Castillo passing on her crown during the

Miss USA 2004 Miss USA 2004 was the 53rd Miss USA pageant, held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on April 12, 2004. The winner of the beauty pageant was Shandi Finnessey, who became the first winner from the state of Missouri. Finnessey was crow ...

pageant. During her spare time Castillo does volunteer work for HAWC (Help for Abused Women and Children), the Lawrence Girls Club and for the Latinas Against Sexual Assault. On April 27, 2011, Castillo issued a statement attacking the U.S.

Transportation Security Administration The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over the security of transportation systems within, and connecting to the United States. It was created ...

(TSA), alleging that she had been groped and touched inappropriately four times during the enhanced pat-down. She released a blog post and video describing the experience, and created an online petition demanding an end to the "enhanced" pat-downs. Castillo is a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...

and posed nude for a

PETA Peta or PETA may refer to: Acronym * Pembela Tanah Air, a militia established by the occupying Japanese in Indonesia in 1943 * People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an American animal rights organization * People Eating Tasty Animals, a ...

anti-fur campaign, stating that she had always loved animals. Castillo urges the beauty pageant industry to stop awarding fur coats as prizes while exposing animals to unnecessary torture "in the name of fashion".

References

External links

*
Spotlight on Susie Castillo, Miss USA 2003

Young Money Magazine interviews Susie Castillo
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Castillo, Susie 1979 births American actresses of Puerto Rican descent American beauty pageant winners American people of Dominican Republic descent Endicott College alumni Living people 1998 beauty pageant contestants 20th-century Miss Teen USA delegates Miss Universe 2003 contestants Miss USA 2003 delegates Miss USA winners Participants in American reality television series People from Lawrence, Massachusetts People from Methuen, Massachusetts Puerto Rican female models VJs (media personalities)